wealth inequality

The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report shows once again that economic inequality remains at shockingly high levels.  The richest 1 percent now has as much wealth as the rest of the world combined.

Fighting inequality is not just an issue of fairness but an economic necessity. That’s not Oxfam speaking, but the International Monetary Fund today. 

In response to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) latest report on inequality, In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All, Oxfam’s Senior Policy Advisor Claire Godfrey said:

“There is nothing surprising in the OECD’s latest report on inequality...

Global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite. This briefing explains Oxfam’s methodology and data sources and updates key inequality statistics.

Oxfam presents new evidence that the gap between rich and poor is growing ever wider and is undermining poverty eradication. This report delves into the causes of the inequality crisis and looks at the concrete solutions that can overcome it.

Extreme inequality is hurting us all. Its damages economic growth, threatens decades of progress toward ending poverty and contributes to the death of one person every four seconds. Such stark inequality is not inevitable – it is the consequence of political and economic choices. And it can be reversed.